Second Anchor Point Appears

Second Anchor Point Appears

"Thousand Machines Jade Ring Golden Chapter, Nascent Soul Realm skill. Current number of cultivators: 0."

Li Fan picked up the Jade Slip, and a piece of information naturally appeared in his mind.

"A Nascent Soul Realm..." Li Fan's heart filled with yearning. Unfortunately, he was still merely a mortal, without even Divine Sense. Though he could use the Storage Ring in simple ways, he could do nothing with this true Nascent Soul skill. He could only stare at it helplessly, unable to learn its specific contents.

He had a treasure mountain before him but no fortune to enjoy it. Li Fan could only greedily look at it a few more times before finally putting it down with great reluctance.

Li Fan then looked at a rust-covered iron sword lying nearby.

It was Dao Xuanzi's Foundation Establishment Oddity, Rusty Sword Dao Xuan.

According to Kou Hong, Qi Refining Cultivators who wished to break through needed to use various Heavenly Earth Marvels as their foundation to forge their Dao foundation.

Heavenly Earth Marvels each possessed their own wondrous properties, and only those fated for them could find them.

Yet once a cultivator used one to forge their Dao foundation, it would become bound to that cultivator, sharing weal and woe.

If the cultivator perished, the oddity would likewise vanish with their death and dissolution, losing its miraculous nature and becoming an ordinary object.

Li Fan stroked the plain iron sword before him, but his attention was focused on the information that Return to Truth had suddenly produced.

"Chargeable item discovered: Rusty Sword Dao Xuan (fragment)."

"Begin charging?"

Li Fan pondered for a moment before choosing yes.

The rusty sword in his hand vanished without a sound. Then, a line of small text appeared in Li Fan's mind.

"Current Anchor Charging Progress: 1%"

"Current Anchor Point Count: 1"

Li Fan's heart stirred. According to Return to Truth's feedback, once the Anchor Charging Progress reached one hundred percent, a second Anchor Point would be unlocked.

From then on, when he simulated everything and chose to return, he could choose to begin anew from any Anchor Point.

If I can truly unlock a second Anchor Point, that will make things so much more convenient. Li Fan let his thoughts wander for a while, anticipation rising within him.

For instance, he had repeated reincarnation over these past lives in an attempt to obtain the path of cultivation from Kou Hong and the other man. The previous fifty years had truly been a repetitive torment for him, not to mention the occasional uncontrollable variables.

If he could begin each reincarnation directly from the point where he became Grand Tutor and held the world in his grasp, the efficiency of his attempts would increase enormously.

Thinking further ahead, he was only a mortal now, and each reincarnation lasted merely fifty years. Though somewhat lengthy, Li Fan could still barely accept it. But once he embarked upon the path of cultivation, a casual stretch of time would be hundreds or even thousands of years. If he failed and wished to start over, he would have to begin from scratch again. Even thinking about it now made Li Fan's scalp tingle.

Moreover, if he could unlock even more Anchor Points, Li Fan would have enough chances to make mistakes. By continuously trying step by step, it might not be impossible for him to carve out a perfect road to immortality.

As for the original Anchor Point, it could serve as his final safeguard.

"Though Heavenly Earth Marvels are rare, the Cultivation World is incomparably vast, and oddities emerge one after another. As long as I can leave this Immortal Forsaken Land and break free of these shackles..." Thinking of all this, Li Fan's desire to leave this place grew ever more fervent.

After absorbing Rusty Sword Dao Xuan, Li Fan paid little attention to the other items in the Storage Ring.

They were nothing more than some Standardized Spirit Stones and low-grade Magical Artifacts.

Standardized Spirit Stones were spirit stones jointly manufactured by organizations such as the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Society. They came in different grades and were equivalent to the legal currency of the Cultivation World. Every spirit stone bore a unique anti-counterfeiting restriction that others could not imitate.

In truth, Standardized Spirit Stones held value because they were recognized by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Society and could be exchanged there for cultivation skills. Those inferior privately made spirit stones, as well as natural spirit stones mined from spirit ore veins, were all worthless.

At the end of the day, what constrained the cultivators of the current Cultivation World was not resources such as spiritual energy and spirit stones, but cultivation skills.

Skills for every realm.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Society had become colossal forces spanning the entire Cultivation World precisely because they controlled the overwhelming majority of cultivation skills in the world.

As for those low-grade Magical Artifacts, most were meant to be expended in battle. Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi were hardly wealthy, so the Magical Artifacts they carried were all common goods of little value.

After putting the items before him, including the Nascent Soul Realm skill, back into the Storage Ring one by one, Li Fan was already panting heavily.

This body had grown so old, like the last flicker of a candle in the wind, liable to disperse completely at any moment.

Drawing a deep breath, Li Fan closed his eyes, as though he wished to carve his present weakness deeply into his heart.

Then, Li Fan hesitated no longer. He summoned Return to Truth and ended this life.

In the darkness, scene after scene flashed past at high speed. Finally, several familiar lines of text appeared before his eyes.

This simulation has ended.

You may choose one of the following options to retain:

1. One item currently held by yourself during this simulation.

2. Your cultivation realm during this simulation.

3. The simulated memories of one person closely connected to you during this simulation. These memories may be inherited by that person.

4. Forgo the above choices and accelerate charging progress.

This time, Li Fan chose the first option.

Unfortunately, his attempt in his previous life to exploit a loophole by placing all the items into the Storage Ring at the end of his life had failed.

The Storage Ring, the Nascent Soul skill, spirit stones, Magical Artifacts, and other items appeared in Li Fan's mind one after another.

Naturally, Li Fan chose that Nascent Soul skill.

To his delight, after choosing this skill, he could take it out of and put it back into Return to Truth whenever he wished. Moreover, the skill had formed a certain kind of binding relationship with him.

This skill now belonged completely to him. Even if he did not choose to bring it back in his next simulation, it would remain forever within Return to Truth.

"This gives me many more possibilities to plan..." Li Fan took out the golden Jade Slip, idly turning it over in his hand as he considered his plans for this life.

"The Great Migration Era passed thousands of years ago, and all relevant clues have long since been buried deep underground. Yet excavating ancient tombs on a grand scale is simply too shocking. Even with the degree of control I had over the Imperial Court in my previous life, it still provoked considerable opposition. If I do this as soon as the court is stabilized, it will surely be impossible to sustain."

"However, if I begin laying the groundwork from this moment and spend twenty years on it, I may not be unable to change the thinking of the people across the land..."

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Mortal

Physical Age: 20/86 Mental Age: 282/1109↑

Simulation Charging Progress: 0%

Anchor Charging Progress: 1%

Current Anchor Point Count: 1 Bound Item: "Thousand Machines Jade Ring Golden Chapter"

As time flowed on, Li Fan's sixth life began.

Everything proceeded along its predetermined course, except that beneath Li Fan's secret manipulation, many subtle changes took place in the world.

Beginning in the third year of Anchoring, rumors of immortals descending into the world began to spread one after another throughout Great Xuan.

In the fifth year of Anchoring, the Antiquity Seeking School emerged out of nowhere. Carrying several volumes of ancient texts, the school entered the capital to have an audience with the emperor. The ancient books were so exquisitely profound and so unprecedented in the world that they shook the entire land.

The ancient texts were named: "Yi Jing," "Dao De Jing," "Nanhua Sutra," "Analects," "Great Learning"...